HS EKTACHROME(ABOVE)AND KODACHROME
baja, the center of the Madjapahit realm un
til the 15th century. Greatest of Java's Hindu
kingdoms, Madjapahit once repelled the forc
es of Kublai Khan. High in the Tengger
Mountains of East Java live the descendants
of the Hindu priests whose duty it was to
appease the god of fire residing in the vol
cano of Bromo.
"Nice Walk" Becomes a Trek
Late one afternoon Helen and I arrived
at Tosari, in the heart of the Tengger coun
try. The air was chill, and the fading sun
gilded the zinc roofs and dark walls of the
sturdy houses that terraced the hillsides. At
the flower-bordered government resthouse,
NATIONALGEOGRAPHICSOCIETY
we asked the mustachioed caretaker how we
could reach the crest of Bromo.
"Ja,tuan," he said, "I'll have horses here
at 3 a.m. You must start then to reach the
peak at sunrise."
The only way from Tosari to Mount Bro
mo, he said, was by a 12-mile horseback trip.
We awoke in the moonless night and
mounted small Javanese horses. With a flam
ing torch, a guide preceded us along the nar
row trail through silent villages and over dark
drainage ditches. Wind soon chilled us, and
I could hardly believe we were only a few
degrees from the Equator.
For several hours we climbed, crawling
at times while the guides led the horses.
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